CdM’s youth gets a chance

IRVINE — After Friday night’s loss to Laguna Beach, the best Corona del Mar High could get was fifth place at the inaugural CIF Southern Section Masters Tournament.

So the Sea Kings, with little to lose, effectively treated Saturday’s season-ending games against Montebello and Santa Barbara as practices for next year’s returners.

Coach Aaron Chaney liberally used his reserves in both a 6-5 loss to Montebello and a 5-4, overtime loss to Santa Barbara. And, though CdM (24-10) lost leads in both games on its way to eighth place in the tournament, the scores really weren’t the most important thing.

“I liked the heart they played with today,” Chaney said of his underclassmen. “They went out there and they played hard.”

Although the seniors still accumulated most of the stats, sophomore Leslee Kaczmarek and freshman Margot Money both had steals against Santa Barbara.

Sophomore Heather Van Hiel and senior Paige O’Brien, both regulars, each had three steals, and seniors Katie Indvik, Annie Claster and Sarah Hutchison all scored goals.

Indvik said she would miss her senior teammates that also included goalie Kate Murphy, Cari Levine, Leilani Livingston, Haley Prickett and Taylor Harkins.

“We’ve been playing together since we were in eighth grade,” Indvik said. “We’re all so close, and we’re all best friends.”

Levine said it was “really weird” to stay on the sidelines with the seniors for much of Saturday and watch the freshmen and sophomores play.

“We weren’t really expecting it, but it is what is it is,” she said. “It was fun. It was fun playing with the seniors for the last time.”

Chaney said he definitely appreciated the senior class, even if their last two tournaments (CIF Division I and Masters) ended roughly.

“It’s a class that really enjoyed playing water polo,” he said. “I know they’re upset right now, but they have to remember the good things. They brought a lot of positive things to our program.”

CIF Southern SectionSeventh-place game

Masters Tournament

Santa Barbara 5, Corona del Mar 4 (OT)

Score by Periods

SB 1 0 1 2 0 1 — 5

CdM 3 1 0 0 0 0 — 4

Santa Barbara -- Collyer 2, Kidd-Kadlubek 1, Easterday 1, Killroy 1. Saves -- Wise 4, Hendrix 6.

CdM -- Indvik 1, Claster 1, Van Hiel 1, Hutchison 1. Saves -- Murphy 1, Baldoni 2.